Abstract: An odyssey of civil rights in education has been taking place in America over the last 16 years. Theschool choice issue has heated up in the last decade and a half, traversing the years from 1990, withthe first urban school choice program in Wisconsin, to 2006, with a suit filed against Los AngelesUnified Schools for lack of cooperation in informing parents of educational options available. The coreargument is that parents, not government, should have the primary responsibility and economic powerto determine where and how their children should be educated. This is a basic ethical, philosophical,and human rights concern, and is an essential American freedom.